


Right In Front of My Face

by angstysilver



Series: Through the Clouds I See Love Shine [4]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-24 17:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20018632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstysilver/pseuds/angstysilver
Summary: Steve is great until he isn’t.





	Right In Front of My Face

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in September 1992 and Jo is about 19 months old.
> 
> The title is from CeCe Peniston’s “Finally” (1992).

Jo is “helping” Billy make dinner on Friday night while they wait for Steve to get home from the bakery. It’s usually a relatively late night for him, prepping sweet confections for the various birthday parties and gatherings scheduled for the weekend. He and Billy worked out a routine not long after Jo’s birth that has been serving them well for the last 19 months. And like clockwork, every Friday Billy will leave Tony in charge of Hawkins Auto for the last few business hours of the day, pick Jo up from the sitter’s, and get dinner started before Steve comes home covered in flour and smelling like vanilla.

It’s his and Jo’s tradition to listen to the radio while they make dinner and this evening is no exception. He’s got Top 100 blasting from the stereo much louder than Steve would ever approve of while he stirs tomato sauce. Jo is occupied with snapping the ends off of a bowl of green beans and “singing” along with some of her favorite songs. He has learned that dinner prep goes much smoother when she’s got a job of her own and she works studiously for awhile until the song changes. The DJ announces that “Jump” by Kris Kross is up next and Jo’s gasp of excitement is clearly audible, even over the sound of the music.

She hops down from the kitchen chair, and runs over to him, briefly wrapping her little body around his jean-clad leg. “Pop! Jump!” She shouts before detaching herself and going back to the center of the room. She proceeds to bounce around in a circle much faster than the beat of the music, little feet barely seeming to touch the ground, wispy blond hair falling into her face. “Look, Pop! Jump!”

Billy chuckles at her enthusiasm. “I see you, baby.” He even does a few hops along with the chorus just because he knows it’ll tickle her and he’s rewarded by her delighted giggles - one of the best sounds in the world. He knows his high school self would be absolutely disgusted if he could see him now, and decides he doesn’t give a shit.

The sauce is simmering and he and Jo have just finished jamming away to CeCe Peniston’s “Finally” when the front door opens. Another gasp from Jo is all the warning Billy gets before she’s tearing out of the kitchen, feet pounding on the wood floor. “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!”

“Hi, Jo.” He can hear Steve saying. He gives an exaggerated grunt, which means he’s picked her up. “Are you cooking with Pop?”

“Beans,” Jo replies, reminding Billy of El when he first met her.

Billy checks on the sauce before making his way to the living room to greet his husband at a slightly more sedate pace than their daughter had managed. He falters a little once he makes it to the living room. Jo is perched on Steve’s lap, chattering away happily, with just a few intelligible words interspersed in her babbling. It’s Steve that makes him frown. He’s slumped back against the cushions of the couch, head tilted back with his eyes closed. He hums intermittently to signal to Jo that he’s listening. Steve’s lids open slightly once Billy is standing over him. The deep brown orbs stare back at Billy listlessly and his concern ratchets up. 

“You okay,” he asks and bends down to kiss him, smoothing back his flour-streaked hair.

“Kiss!” Jo exclaims and puckers up her little lips expectantly. Billy smiles and gives her a small peck before returning his attention to Steve.

Steve’s lips quirk up in a small smile Jo’s antics. “Just tired,” he mumbles and lets his eyes slip closed again. Jo becomes bored with them and wiggles down from his lap to start playing with the blocks she has stacked underneath the television stand. 

Billy places the back of his hand on Steve’s forehead and frowns slightly. “You don’t feel warm.”

Steve weakly bats at his hand. “I’m not sick. Just tired.”

“Busy day?” Billy is still looking for a reason for Steve’s fatigue but the other man just shrugs a shoulder noncommittally 

Billy doesn’t like it at all. Even on Fridays, Steve usually comes home fairly energized, often joining Billy and Jo’s jam sessions in the kitchen and regaling Jo with fictional stories about the day’s adventures of precocious jelly donuts at the shop. He hasn’t seen him like this since back when Jo was teething, and to be so wiped now for no apparent reason has Billy’s level of concern simmering somewhere around a solid 3. 

“Dinner should be ready in a few minutes. You can lay down after that,” he suggests, telling himself that Steve just needs to catch up on some sleep and will be fine.

He corrals Jo back into the kitchen, impressed with her willingness to stick strictly to her inside voice once he tells her that Daddy is sleeping. They finish off dinner with the radio turned down to a murmur. He gets Jo situated in her toddler table with a small plate of food before going back to Steve. Despite their earlier exchange, Billy is still surprised to find that Steve managed to fall asleep in that short amount of time. He moans unhappily when Billy rouses him.

“I know, baby,” Billy soothes, like he does to Jo when she gets sleep-cranky. “You can go back to sleep right after dinner, though. Promise.”

Steve leans on him the whole way back to the kitchen. Billy is watching him so closely that he can actually see the moment his face turns pale while looking down at his plate. Steve takes a shallow breath in through his mouth and swallows convulsively.

“Steve?” 

He grimaces and pushes his plate away, slightly. “I...I don’t think I’m hungry,” he explains while rubbing a hand across his eyes.

Concern level 6.5. Steve is an eater. Always. As a rule. No matter what. Billy has seen him stuff more KFC into his cheeks than anyone would think humanly possible. Back when Steve decided that he would use some of the trust money he received at 21 to open a bakery, no one had been surprised given Steve’s affinity for sweets. His ample appetite increased while pregnant with Jo and Dustin had taken to calling him Frodo. So, Steve turning down dinner? Warning bells sound in Billy’s head, but he tries to play it cool.

“You have to eat something. Let me make you a sandwich or something,” he suggests.

But Steve just shakes his head firmly, brows wrinkling at the thought. “No, thanks. I just want to go to bed.” His pale expression turns apologetic. “Can you handle bath and bedtime without me tonight?”

Billy nods. Steve stands, drops a kiss to Billy’s and Jo’s cheeks before shuffling out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Billy sighs heavily. He finishes his meal while keeping one eye trained on Jo as she makes a mess feeding herself and the other glaring at Steve’s plate in accusation.

Bathtime and bedtime are ordeals, as usual, but Jo still feels like such a gift to him that he spends the majority of the time smiling at her indulgently. Unsurprisingly, Steve is asleep by the time he gets Jo down, cleans the kitchen, and completes his own bedtime routine. The other man still doesn’t feel feverish and appears to the sleeping soundly so Billy, again, tries to reassure himself that the evening’s episode is an isolated incident.

oOo

Steve wakes the following morning feeling energized and hungry. He eats a full breakfast - much to Billy’s relief - and the three of them spend the day at Hawkins Fall Festival where Steve manages to pile in even more food. Billy feels weird being so pleased every time Steve insists on stopping for ice cream or a hot dog but his concern level has dropped down to a very manageable level so he stubbornly ignores the strangeness.

Things continue like that for a few days and Steve is doing great until he isn’t. The tiredness returns and stays this time. Steve falling asleep before Jo’s bedtime becomes a regular occurrence and he still struggles to get moving the following morning. It’s another week before Billy learns that Steve has started leaving work during the day for nap breaks, finding it the only way to get through the rest of the work day. 

These developments have Billy’s level of concern inching up to unprecedented heights, but it isn’t until a few days after he learns about the naps that he starts to get truly scared. Steve is in their kitchen fiddling with a new recipe for the shop. But the moment he unwraps the dark chocolate he retches, hand flying to his mouth and eyes widening as he stumbles a few steps to violently heave into the garbage can. It seems to go on for hours with Billy trying to simultaneously soothe an ill Steve and a sobbing Jo.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Billy murmurs repeatedly. He isn’t sure who he’s trying to reassure at this point - Steve while his body shudders with dry heaves or Jo who has her face pressed to Billy’s neck, crying for her Daddy. 

Eventually, the heaving ends and Steve is reduced to hitched, stuttering breaths. His attempt to stand upright has him slumping dizzily into Billy’s free arm before Billy manages to deposit him into one of the kitchen chairs.

“Daddy,” Jo whines, chubby arms straining towards Steve. He pulls her into his lap and kisses the top of her head.

“I’m okay, I’m okay.” He breathes in her scent. “I’m sorry I scared you.” She sniffles and nuzzles into his chest.

He’s not okay, Billy decides while placing a glass of water into Steve’s trembling hand. Steve’s face is ashen and beads of sweat dot his forehead. There are dark smudges under his eyes and Billy is so tired of seeing Steve feeling shitty that he just wants to pull his own hair out.

Steve sighs. “I don’t know what happened. The chocolate…,” he trails off in confusion and drags a hand down his face. “I think I’m gonna go lay down.”

Jo clings to Steve when Billy tries to take her back and Steve just gives him a small smile, large palm splayed on her back. “It’s okay. I’ll take her with me.”

Billy can’t return the smile. He cups Steve’s cheek, rubbing gentle circles with his thumb. “Babe, I’m worried about you.” 

Steve turns his head to press a kiss to Billy’s palm. “I don’t know what that was about, but I feel better now. Promise.”

He doesn’t believe him for a second.

oOo

He should probably be embarrassed that takes him so long to figure it out, but he reasons that at least he’s still a step ahead of Steve.

Kelly, the Hawkins High junior working part-time at Hawkins Auto to save up money for college, is running late for her shift. Billy is covering the front reception area until she arrives when Melissa Davis brings her car in for an oil change and tune up. She and her wife, Heather, have been bringing their cars to Hawkins Auto since they moved down from Indianapolis three years before. He hasn’t seen either of them for several months but seeing Melissa now reminds him that the last time he had run into Heather she had been bursting with excitement because they had just learned that Melissa was pregnant with their first child. Now, Melissa is weighed down by her baby belly as she waddles up to the counter, smiling brightly at him.

Billy’s brain whites out, muscles stiffened, staring blankly at her belly.

Melissa looks confused for a moment and then rolls her eyes at him. “Relax, Hargove. I’m not going to go into labor in your stupid auto shop.”

Her voice sounds like it’s coming from a mile away and he finds himself leaning heavily against the countertop. She’s frowning at him now. “Billy? You alright?”

Billy chokes on air once his brain finally tell his body to start breathing again. “I’m-I’m good,” he stutters.

She looks unconvinced but lets it rest and hands over the necessary documentation. Billy processes her information distractedly, trying not to stare at her distended abdomen and failing miserably. Finally, he gives in to his curiosity, desperate to investigate the plausibility of the realization that just crashed into him like a freight train.

“Were you tired and sick early on?”

Melissa is clearly surprised by the question but answers anyway. “Sure, the first trimester I was fucking exhausted all the damn time. And nauseated most of the day but I was one of those people that rarely ever actually threw up. I just wanted to stay in bed all day.”

Billy nods, ticking off check marks on his mental list of Steve’s symptoms. “And did the smell of certain foods make it worse? Even stuff that never bothered you before?”

“Yeah, food aversion is pretty common. Even now, I really miss peanut butter but my little bean here is not a fan.” She pats her belly and shoots him a calculating look. “Why do you ask? Something you want to share with the class?” She asks, sending a pointed look at his flat stomach.

Billy blanches and shakes his head. “I’m not a carrier. But Steve has been feeling like crap for a few weeks now and I just realized that could be why.”

oOo

He and Steve are getting ready for bed that night when Billy presses a paper back into Steve’s hands.

“What’s this?” Steve’s brows wrinkle in confusion before opening the bag. He looks back up at Billy with questions in his eyes. “Pregnancy tests?”

Billy shrugs and rubs a hand at the back of his neck. “You’ve been so tired lately and now you’re throwing up, so.”

Steve’s lips press together and he places the back on the dresser. “That was one time. I’m not pregnant, Billy.”

“I think you are,” Billy counters. “Can you just take the test so we can be sure?”

Rolling his eyes to the ceiling, Steve snatches the bag and stalks towards their en-suite. “If it’ll get you to drop this, then yeah, I’ll take the damn test.”

Steve stays in the bathroom while the test processes, leaving Billy to pace the length of their bedroom alone. It’s been ten minutes with nothing but silence on the other side of the door when Billy decides to knock. Steve steps out, pale and unsteady on his feet. Billy’s pulse pounds in his ears and he wraps a hand around either of the other man’s biceps, keeping him upright. Steve clutches at Billy’s shirt weakly and stares at him with wide eyes, shell-shocked. 

“I’m pregnant,” he whispers faintly. 

End.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Truly appreciate kudos and comments!
> 
> Yay, the boys are having another baby. I'll have to post another one with their reactions once the initial shock settles.
> 
> I've already had so many timestamp bunnies jotted down for Jo and her new sibling. I'm excited to finally get some of those out to yall.
> 
> I don’t know why but I have this persistent headcanon about Steve owning a bake shop. Billy manages the auto shop where he started working during high school. I don’t know the first thing about either of these occupations, but, here we are, folks.


End file.
